Pulmonary Medicine最新文献

Although pulmonary fibrosis can occur in the absence of a clear-cut inciting agent, and without a clinically clear initial acute inflammatory phase, it is more commonly associated with severe lung injury. This may be due to respiratory infections, chronic granulomatous diseases, medications, and connective tissue disorders. Pulmonary fibrosis is associated with permanent pulmonary architectural distortion and irreversible lung dysfunction. Available clinical, radiographic, and autopsy data has indicated that pulmonary fibrosis is central to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS) and MERS pathology, and current evidence suggests that pulmonary fibrosis could also complicate infection by SARS-CoV-2. The aim of this review is to explore the current literature on the pathogenesis of lung injury in COVID-19 infection. We evaluate the evidence in support of the putative risk factors for the development of lung fibrosis in the disease and propose risk mitigation strategies. We conclude that, from the available literature, the predictors of pulmonary fibrosis in COVID-19 infection are advanced age, illness severity, length of ICU stay and mechanical ventilation, smoking and chronic alcoholism. With no proven effective targeted therapy against pulmonary fibrosis, risk reduction measures should be directed at limiting the severity of the disease and protecting the lungs from other incidental injuries.

Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a threat to global health. Though current evidence on the epidemiology of the disease is emerging, very little is known about the predictors of recovery.

Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of confirmed COVID-19 patients in the Republic of Korea and identify predictors of recovery.

Materials and methods: Using publicly available data for confirmed COVID-19 cases from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from January 20, 2020, to April 30, 2020, we undertook descriptive analyses of cases stratified by sex, age group, place of exposure, date of confirmation, and province. Correlation was tested among all predictors (sex, age group, place of exposure, and province) with Pearson's correlation coefficient. Associations between recovery from COVID-19 and predictors were estimated using a multivariable logistic regression model.

Results: Majority of the confirmed cases were females (56%), 20-29 age group (24.3%), and primarily from three provinces-Gyeongsangbuk-do (36.9%), Gyeonggi-do (20.5%), and Seoul (17.1%). The case fatality ratio was 2.1%, and 41.6% cases recovered. Older patients, patients from provinces such as Daegu, Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jeju-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeollanam-do, and those contracting the disease from healthcare settings had lower recovery.

Conclusions: Our study adds to the very limited evidence base on potential predictors of recovery among confirmed COVID-19 cases. We call additional research to explore the predictors of recovery and support development of policies to protect the vulnerable patient groups.

Background: The primary goal of asthma management is to achieve good asthma control. However, poor patient-physician communication, unavailability of appropriate medications, and lack of long-term goals have made asthma control difficult in developing countries. Poor assessment of asthma control and quality of life is a major cause of suboptimal asthma treatment worldwide, and information regarding this issue is scanty in developing countries like Ethiopia. This study thus attempted to assess the level of asthma control and quality of life in asthmatic patients attending Armed Forces Referral and Teaching Hospital.

Methods: A cross-sectional study comprising 184 physician-diagnosed asthmatic patients was conducted using interview, chart review, and prescription assessment. Asthma control was assessed using Asthma Control Test, while asthma quality of life was assessed using Mini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (mini-AQLQ). Spearman's rank correlation analysis was performed to understand the relationship between mean mini-AQLQ score and asthma control. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to establish cut-off values for mini-AQLQ.

Results: Asthma was uncontrolled in 67.9% subjects. There was a strong correlation between asthma control and quality of life (rs = 0.772; P < 0.01). A cut-off value for the quality of life was established at 4.97. Majority of the patients were taking two or three antiasthmatic drugs. Oral tablet and inhaler short-acting beta agonists (SABA) were the frequently combined drugs. Uncontrolled asthma was associated with middle-aged adults (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 6.31; 95% CI: 2.06, 19.3; P = 0.001), male gender (AOR = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.98; P = 0.044), married (AOR = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.78; P = 0.017), comorbidities (AOR = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.61; P = 0.003), and oral SABA use (AOR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.59; P = 0.003). Male gender (AOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.84; P = 0.018), intermittent asthma (AOR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.86; P = 0.032), use of oral corticosteroids (AOR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.73; P = 0.013), and SABA (AOR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.89; P = 0.026) were found to have a significant association with poor asthma-related quality of life.

Conclusion: The findings collectively indicate asthma remains poorly controlled in a large proportion of asthma patients in the study setting. Moreover, quality of life appears to be directly related to asthma control. Healthcare providers should therefore focus on asthma education with an integrated treatment plan to improve asthma control and quality of life.

Purpose: The health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is worsened by frequent exacerbations, and it can be affected by the concomitant presence of bronchial asthma (asthma-COPD overlap (ACO)). The impacts of clinical factors associated with HRQL have not been compared in patients with COPD and ACO experiencing exacerbations. Patients and Methods. Patients with COPD (N =705) and ACO (N =148) belonging to C and D groups according to GOLD 2017 were recruited in stable condition. Demographic and clinical data were collected, spirometry was performed, and patients rated the intensity of respiratory symptoms during the previous week. The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and the EQ-5D 3 level version (dimensions and visual analogue scale (VAS)) were used to assess disease-specific and generic HRQL, respectively. Fisher's exact test, χ ² test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation were used for analysis (mean ± SD). Multiple linear regression was applied to identify variables related to CAT and EQ-5D VAS scores.

Results: The CAT and EQ-5D VAS scores showed similarly low HRQL in COPD and ACO (20.7 ± 6.7 vs. 21.1 ± 6.3 (p = 0.52) and 56.2 ± 17.8 vs. 53.7 ± 18.2 (p = 0.11)). There was a weak correlation between CAT and EQ-5D VAS scores (COPD: r = -0.345, p < 0.001; ACO: r = -0.245, p = 0.003). More patients with COPD had problems related to anxiety/depression in EQ-5D (63.7% vs. 55.4%, p = 0.06). Pack-years exerted a negative effect on HRQL measures both in ACO and COPD. Low HRQL in COPD was associated with female gender, dyspnea, cough, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and arrhythmia, while in ACO, it was related to arrhythmia, hypertension, and cough, but less to dyspnea.

Conclusions: Patients with COPD and ACO experiencing exacerbations have low quality of life, which is influenced by smoking history, symptoms, and comorbidities. These findings have important implications for the development of therapeutic strategies to improve the health status of patients with these conditions.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem. The disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. Early identification of cases and commencement of effective chemotherapy is an effective method to control the spread of tuberculosis. Delay in diagnosis and starting tuberculosis treatment increases severity, risk of mortality, and transmission of the disease in the community.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the magnitude of patient delay in initiating tuberculosis treatment and its associated factors among tuberculosis patients in health facilities of Oromia Special Zone, Ethiopia.

Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Oromia Special Zone. Data were collected using pretested questionnaires from patients with tuberculosis who are on treatment during the study period. The simple random sampling method was used to select health facilities and study participants. Data were entered using Epi Info version 7.2 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to see the significance of association between the outcome and independent variables. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Three hundred and eighty-seven tuberculosis patients aged 18 years and above enrolled in the study. Among these, 223 (57.6%) were males, 194 (50.1%) were married, and 206 (53.2%) lived in rural areas. The mean age of respondents was 35 years. The median patient delay was 35 (IQR = 30) days, and 54.4% of patients seek their first consultation after 21 days. Patients who have a basic schooling level (AOR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.23, 0.89) compared with the college/university level, long distance greater than 10 km (AOR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.97, 5.42), seeking treatment from informal source and private drug stores (AOR = 3.01, 95% CI: 1.52, 5.95), extrapulmonary tuberculosis (AOR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.26, 4.23), and poor knowledge about tuberculosis (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.49) were associated factors that predict patient delay. Conclusion and Recommendation. A significant proportion of tuberculosis patients delayed to seek treatment. Health promotion and education involving different stake holders will make the community create awareness about tuberculosis that could help reduce delays in initiating tuberculosis treatment.

Introduction: Complicated parapneumonic effusions (CPE) are distinguished from uncomplicated parapneumonic effusions (UPE) by the ability to resolve without drainage. Determinants include pleural pH, pleural glucose, and pleural LDH, along with microbiologic cultures. Inflammation mediated by neutrophil chemotactic cytokines leads to fibrinous loculation of an effusion, and the degree of this inflammation may lead to a CPE. One role of the pathologist is to evaluate for the presence of malignancy in a pleural effusion; however, the ability of the pathologist to distinguish a CPE from UPE has not been evaluated.

Materials and methods: A single-center retrospective study was performed on pleural cytology specimens from 137 patients diagnosed with a parapneumonic effusion or empyema over a five-year interval. Pleural cytology was characterized as either uncomplicated or complicated by two pathologists based on cellular composition and the presence or absence of fibrinous exudate in the fluid. Cohen's kappa was calculated for interobserver agreement. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of cytologic diagnoses were calculated. Determinants of cytologic accuracy were assessed using Wilcoxon rank sum test, unpaired t-test, and logistic regression.

Results: Kappa interobserver agreement between pathologists was 0.753. Pleural fluid cytology sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for CPE/empyema were 76.0%, 95% CI [65.0, 84.9]; 50%, 95% CI [29.1, 70.9]; 83.3%, 95% CI [76.7, 88.4]; and 38.7%, 95% CI [26.5, 52.5], respectively. The presence of pleural bacteria, elevated pleural LDH, and reduced pleural pH were nonsignificant determinants of cytologic accuracy. Logistic regression was significant for the presence of pleural bacteria (p = 0.03) in determining a successful cytologic diagnosis.

Conclusion: Pleural cytology adds little value to traditional markers of distinguishing a UPE from CPE. Inflammation on pleural fluid cytology is suggestive of empyema or the presence of pleural fluid bacteria.

Background: Immunocompromised patients are at a higher risk of having latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) has been proven to perform effectively in LTBI detection among immunocompromised adults and can overcome the limitations of the tuberculin skin test (TST). However, the role of QFT-Plus in detecting LTBI in immunocompromised paediatric patients has not been well established. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the test agreement between QFT-Plus and the TST in LTBI detection among immunocompromised children.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled immunocompromised paediatric patients, aged between 5 and 18 years, who were treated with corticosteroids and/or chemotherapy from June to November 2019. We categorized them into three groups based on the following diseases: hematologic malignancies and nephrological and immunological diseases. We recorded the patient characteristics and QFT-Plus and TST results, in which the positive result of the TST was induration ≥ 5 mm. Within the same group, comparisons between the two tests were performed using the McNemar test, and results were statistically significant for p values of <0.05. The kappa index was used to assess the agreement between the two test results.

Results: Among 71 patients (median age: 11.8 years) who underwent TST and QFT-Plus testing, 52% were females, and 69% had a normal nutritional status. Chemotherapy was the most common treatment modality for hematologic malignancy compared to other immunosuppressive treatments. The total number of patients with positive QFT-Plus and TST results was 11/71 (15.5%) and 4/71 (5.6%), respectively, among whom 3/11 patients had positive results in both tests, and one patient with positive TST results exhibited a discrepancy, as this was not followed by positive QFT-Plus results. QFT-Plus generated more positive results than the TST in immunocompromised children (McNemar, p = 0.039 (p < 0.05)). The diagnostic agreement between the tests was fair (K = 0.345, 95% CI: 0.05-0.745).

Conclusion: QFT-Plus detected LTBI more effectively than the TST in immunocompromised children.

Lung cancer remains the most common cancer in the world. The genetic polymorphisms (rs2853669 in TERT, rs1052133 in OGG1, and rs16969968 in CHRNA5 genes) were shown to be strongly associated with the risk of lung cancer. Our study's aim is to elucidate whether these polymorphisms predispose Eastern Algerian population to non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To date, no study has considered this association in the Algerian population. This study included 211 healthy individuals and 144 NSCLC cases. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan probes and Sanger sequencing, and the data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression adjusted for covariates. The minor allele frequencies (MAFs) of TERT rs2853669, CHRNA5 rs16969968, and OGG1 rs1052133 polymorphisms in controls were C: 20%, A: 31%, and G: 29%, respectively. Of the three polymorphisms, none shows a significant association, but stratified analysis rs16969968 showed that persons carrying the AA genotype are significantly associated with adenocarcinoma risk (pAdj = 0.03, ORAdj = 2.55). Smokers with an AA allele have a larger risk of lung cancer than smokers with GG or GA genotype (pAdj = 0.03, ORAdj = 3.91), which is not the case of nonsmokers. Our study suggests that CHRNA5 rs16969968 polymorphism is associated with a significant increase of lung adenocarcinoma risk and with a nicotinic addiction.